The Car, The Snake and The Father
by dianakotori
Summary: Tag to 04x07 'Memoriam': When Spencer Reid finds himself in inescapable danger, Derek Morgan discovers the pain inside the tormented soul of his young best friend. Will he have the chance to help him, or will it be too late?
1. Part 1

**_Author's Note:_** _Welcome. Thank you for your interest in this story._

 _It's amazing how an idea you had in a night of insomnia can lead you to learn so many things._

 _I had very wise advice about the first part of this work when I posted it on the site a while ago, so I decided to upgrade it, to make the characters more believable. I hope it will not disappoint this time. I appreciate every one of you, readers, from the bottom of my heart. Also, sorry for the long, long, long wait, I had to go back to the drawing board… Then, there were some real life surprises… and on top of it all, I had a little accident with my tablet and lost half of this. My advice… always backup your files. ;)_

 _This story takes place at any time after the episode 'Memoriam', Season 4. It has mentions of facts from said episode and little spoilers from 'Elephant's Memory', Season 3, 'Amplification', Season 4 and 'Nameless, Faceless', Season 5. Some of the places mentioned here exist in real life and some others are just a product of my imagination._

 ** _Warnings:_** _Coarse language, a little bit of angst, lots of friendship. ;)_

 _I am not a native English speaker. Every critique, concerning the story, but also grammar and spelling, will be highly appreciated._

 **THE CAR, THE SNAKE AND THE FATHER.**

 **A Criminal Minds Fan Fiction.**

" _Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient_."

 _Steve Maraboli_ , _Life, the Truth and Being Free_.

* * *

 **PART 1**

The black Ford SUV had been trekking on that lonely dirt road for a long time. Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid had been driving in the middle of the Arizona-Sonora desert for almost three hours, with little rest.

It was nice for Spencer when Hotch asked Morgan and him to leave the Police Station, to go and interview a witness for their current case. The case involved a man who lived in a settlement that didn't even appear in the map, relatively near a faraway mining town that, oddly enough, was called 'Bagdad'. It was 178 miles to the north-west of Phoenix.

In the beginning, Reid was spouting facts about that particular desert wildlife and vegetation, from the beautiful colors of the Gila monster and the Mountain Kingsnake, to the amazing adaptation of the Jumping Cholla and the Barrel Cactus. It was so close to the place where he was born and where he spent the first years of his life...

Right now, he was lost in thought.

The landscape was beautiful, but it could be utterly overwhelming for those who were not familiar with it. The cloudless, dark blue sky, made a blinding contrast with the scorching, golden sand and huge rocks all around them. There were cacti as tall as houses, plants with the strangest colors and shapes, dead trees and dry grass here and there. The road was just an indication of tracks that stretched as far as the eye could see. At certain moments, it looked like a frightening otherworldly scene. Nothing seemed to be able to protect the FBI Agents from the infamous heat, even if it was past the time with the peak temperature of the day. The sun was slowly going down, but that didn't mean it was less unrelenting.

Spencer was squinting behind his sunglasses, with the beginning of an ache at the back of his head.

There had been silence for the last hour. The transmission from a Phoenix radio station became weak and eventually disappeared. Instead of looking for another one, the young genius decided to turn the stereo off. His large bottle of water now was half empty and the liquid inside was warm. Out there, on that afternoon in early May, the temperature was almost 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Now I know why they call the town 'Bagdad'…" Derek said, frowning behind the wheel. "I would absolutely believe we are in Iraq. This is a damn good place to hide. How many miles left to go?"

His colleague didn't seem to hear him. He turned to look at him just for a second and then his attention went back to the road. The younger profiler was staring into the void with a forgotten map a mess in his lap.

"Reid… Are you ok?"

No answer.

"Earth to Reid!"

Startled, Spencer blinked a couple of times, as if he had been brought back from a very distant place. He sighed.

"What?"

"I asked if you are all right, kid."

Reid loved the desert. Some of the best memories of his life had this background… but also some of the worst. An eidetic memory would not discriminate between the good and the bad things and that was the price he had to pay for it.

This was not the time nor place to talk about his tangled memories, so, he lied, at least partially.

"I'm fine." He said, adjusting for the umpteenth time the seat belt that kept hurting the delicate skin of the right side of his neck. "I have a bit of a headache, that's all."

Derek turned to look at him once again, for a moment.

"You know you can trust me and tell me if anything is bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me, Morgan, but thanks for your interest. Do you need anything else?"

The dark skinned man rolled his eyes at him.

"I need to know how many miles are left to go. This road is as rough as hell. My back hurts. I feel I've been driving forever."

Reid had a look at the speedometer and at his watch, rubbing the back of his neck.

"About 26 miles left." He said.

"How do you know? You weren't even looking at the map."

"There's no need. We passed Bagdad 36 minutes ago. Since then, because of the dirt road, you have been driving at an average speed of 45 mph, 0.75 miles per minute. That means we have traveled 27 miles already. The settlement is located about 53 miles away from the town. It's simple. 25 miles left now, 33 minutes. We're almost there."

"Right. Let's do this. If there are 25 miles, I will pay for dinner when we go back to Virginia. One mile more or less and you pay. Oh… and you drive back."

"Some people never learn. Now I can't decide if I will pick Indian, or Thai." Spencer said, adjusting the seat belt again. At least for now, Morgan would stop asking uncomfortable questions and then, the interview would require all of his concentration, putting the bad memories away for a while.

"Of course." Derek started to laugh, heartily.

In that moment, Spencer fixed his sight on the road again, just in time to barely see, in the corner of his eyes, a group of many small dark animal shapes crossing right in front of them, surrounded by a cloud of dust, running, but not fast enough to avoid the SUV.

"Morgan!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "WATCH OUT!"

The dark skinned man beside him saw the shapes in the dust as well, the grin now completely gone from his face, he pressed the brake pedal with both feet and the car slid hopelessly on the loose dirt, with the noise of tires sliding across the dusty tracks.

Out of control, the SUV turned sharply to the left. It went off the road and crashed into the base of a huge Saguaro, about thirty yards away. The airbags deployed with a loud noise… and then everything stopped, behind a curtain of flying yellow sand.

As the dust settled, six big animals similar to wild pigs ran away of the wreckage, snorting.

After that, all that was left, was the silence.

* * *

The heat was almost unbearable.

A buzzing fly brought Spencer back to reality. He could feel the insect crawling on his forehead, flying again and landing now on the tip of his nose. He shook his head a little and slowly opened his eyes.

When he did, the first thing he felt, was a sharp pain on the left side of his face. He grimaced and raised his hand to touch it. He found the pieces of his broken sunglasses and an unsuspected, warm dampness on his skin.

He tossed the shades away and placed his shaking hand in front of his eyes, to see what the dampness was. The blood on his fingers appeared out of focus for a moment.

"Wh..."

 _(What happened?)_

He tried to move, but something across his chest restrained him, causing more discomfort. He groaned and then, remembered.

 _(There was… There was an accident...)_

Suddenly afraid of what he was going to find, he turned his head slowly to the left, to see his colleague and best friend, unconscious in the mess made by the airbags and the pieces of the wrecked dashboard.

"M… Morgan… Morgan!"

He couldn't see any injury or blood on his friend, but that didn't mean he was not wounded… maybe even dead… He tried to move once more and strenuously raised his hand again, this time in order to reach him.

His fingers barely brushed the side of the older agent's head and Derek whimpered. That was enough to fill Spencer's heart with relief. His best friend was alive!

 _"_ _Morgan!"_

That scream seemed to bring Derek back to himself and he woke up with a start and a yelp. Spencer felt like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders and he couldn't help but smile.

"What… what was that?" Morgan asked, with a soft voice, still a little shaken.

"A car crash… You scared me… I thought you were dead." Spencer said, unable to move, not even an inch. That thing across his chest was like a torture instrument. "Are y-you all right?"

There was a small pause, while Derek checked himself, with a sigh.

"Yes. Nothing broken." He said. "You?"

"My chest hurts… and my shoulder..."

Morgan's eyes widened upon hearing that. He removed his seat belt and moved the debris of the inside of the car out of his way, to come close to his young colleague.

At first sight, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him, except for a scratch on the left side of his face and a red mark on the right side of his neck.

"Are you having problems to breathe? Dizziness? Anything else?"

"No, no… Just the pain."

Derek raised his eyebrows. Very carefully, he unbuckled Spencer's seat belt. Then, he undid the knot of his friend's black necktie and unbuttoned his light blue shirt. He discovered a nasty collection of bruises in a diagonal line all over the younger man's too pale skin. Reid lowered his sight and gasped when he saw them.

"You know, Morgan? There's this thing called 'seat belt syndrome'." He said, frowning and swallowing. "They are injuries caused by the seat belt itself when you… when you have a car accident. They can go from simple bruising to fracture of the sternum, shoulder, ribs, neck or hips and depending on the f-force of impact, there can also be damage to internal organs or spinal injury."

In any other situation, Derek would've told the kid to shut up, but he didn't… because he found a bump that shouldn't be on his friend's right shoulder.

"Reid, I'm sorry, your collarbone..."

"Is b-broken. I know. I can feel the crepitus."

"What?"

"Crepitus... is the s-sensation produced by friction of bone and cartilage… or the fractured p-parts of a b-bone."

"Oh... Ok."

 _(I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.)_ Morgan thought, taking his cell phone from his belt. He was disappointed when he saw the 'No service' sign on the top of the screen, but he tried to not show it on his face. He dialed 911, knowing that, even if the phone had no signal at all, it should be able to make emergency calls.

It didn't work.

 _(Shit… We are only a few miles away from that freaking town… How is this possible? This is Arizona, not the damned Middle East...)_ He thought, gritting his teeth at the silence of the line _._

"Reid, let me borrow your phone. Don't move, I'll take it." He said, trying to sound unconcerned, without much success.

"There's no signal." Spencer said, but his voice sounded like a question. The other man shook his head, at the time he grasped the old phone from Reid's belt. He found out that the screen was cracked. The thing was dead.

 _(Great...)_

The older agent remembered the police officer that helped him to make the preparations for the trip earlier that day and his recommendation to bring a satellite phone with them. It was only a short trip, they would be back in Phoenix tonight. He thought there was no need of it.

 _(Derek Morgan, you moron. You idiot bastard.)_

He sighed, holding back his desire to punch something.

"We will try again later. Don't worry about it. Now I have to do something to help you, at least to minimize the pain. We need to immobilize that arm. Are you ok with it?"

Spencer closed his eyes, biting his lower lip. The pain was excruciating.

"Yeah." He whispered.

"Right. Let me go have a look in the trunk, to see what I can find." Derek said. He got Spencer's bottle from the floor and opened the door, allowing the breeze to cool down the car. Thankfully, right now the battered SUV was in the shade of the tree-like cactus where they had crashed. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere without me."

"I may go to have a look at the Long-nosed Leopard Lizards." The younger man said.

"Long-nosed Leopard Lizards? Surely you don't feel too bad if you're still the walking Wikipedia." Derek smiled, trying to cheer up his injured friend.

"In any case, right now, I'm the 'sitting in a crashed car and f-fractured' Wikipedia..."

Morgan laughed and Spencer exhaled a little chuckle, but he was stopped by the ache and groaned, frowning.

"Ough!"

"Sorry, kid. I guess we will have time to laugh later." Derek said, getting out of the car. "Try to move as little as possible, will you?"

He nodded.

Morgan found out that the SUV was in pretty bad shape. The dashboard was completely destroyed by the airbags, which meant there was no way to operate the vehicle. Not even the battery was working. The windshield was cracked and the windows on the passenger side were entirely broken. There was glass scattered in very small pieces on the ground. Reid was lucky that it didn't end all over him. Both doors were dented and blocked by the giant cactus. Both tires were flat. Morgan realized that the passenger side was the one which received the most damage.

He just hoped that, against all odds, that broken collarbone was the only thing they had to worry about.

* * *

When Derek approached to the back of the SUV, his heart sank.

He could see a transparent liquid dripping from somewhere in the right side of the car and pooling under the tire. He opened the trunk, to find the jerry can with 5 gallons of water that they carried for the trip, damaged from the crash. More than half of its content was now lost.

"Son of a bitch..." He whispered. One more problem added to the list… and this one was big.

"What? Morgan, what's wrong?" Reid tried to turn around, but the pain stopped him.

"It's the water. We lost some."

"How bad is it?"

"We still have enough for a few hours. We want to be out of this place as soon as possible anyway. Don't worry about it."

Derek knew that with the container open to the elements, the rest of the water was going to evaporate soon. Losing it in the middle of the desert was a problem he hadn't anticipated.

He would think about that later. Spencer was the priority right now.

Morgan found many usable things in the trunk. There was a container with fuel, a big functioning flashlight with a shoulder strap, a couple of light blankets and a small first aid kit. There was also a tool box and in it, among other things, he found screwdrivers, pincers and a fire starter. Besides that, there was a rucksack with some energy bars. All those things would help them if they had to spend a few days in the desert, but he was hoping they didn't have to do it. Water, or the lack of it, would be a problem soon and he wanted to take his friend to a hospital as soon as possible. It was a big worry to be uncertain about his real condition.

The discomfort seemed to be taking its toll on the young man. He was too quiet now and Derek was afraid that he could fall into shock at any moment. He had to help him, hoping he would not end up doing more harm than good.

Morgan grabbed something from his pocket: a gift that Emily gave him some time ago for his birthday. It was a Swiss penknife, with lots of tools in it. He would never admit that the only tool he had used so far and quite frequently, was the corkscrew, but in this case, he unfolded the sharp blade and used it to cut one of the blankets into pieces that he would use to immobilize the fracture.

He placed a small piece of fabric between Spencer's chest and his right arm. He made him put his right hand on his left shoulder and used a larger piece of fabric to make a sling, folding it in the shape of a triangle underneath his arm and making a knot with the ends behind his neck. Once he did this, he used some bandages that he found in the first aid kit, to tie the arm to the chest and keep it completely still. That would also help to keep protected his ribs and sternum, in case they were injured as well. It worked fine to minimize the pain. He took the time to clean and put some small adhesive strips on the wound on the side of Reid's face and could see him relaxing as soon as he finished. Spencer even started to take deep breaths and smiled.

"Thank you, Morgan."

"You have nothing to say thank you for, kid. I got us into this problem."

"It's not your fault. It was an accident." Reid said. "Your hands are magic. It still h-hurts, but I feel much better now… Where did you learn to do it so well?"

"When I was a teenager, my little sister broke her collarbone pretending to be an Olympic gymnastics champion. My mom taught me how to do it, for the times when she had to go to work and I had to take care of the girls."

"Your mom is an angel..."

"I know." Derek smiled. "Anyway, that sling is temporary. We need to think of a way to get you out of here, but right now, I need to take care of something else."

"The water problem?"

"Yeah."

Morgan used his knife again, this time to cut a large piece of white plastic material from one of the airbags. Then, he went back to the trunk and, after refilling their bottles, covered the water container with it, the best way he could. If that didn't stop the evaporation, it would at least delay it for a while.

* * *

When he went back to the front, to give water to his colleague, Derek found out that Spencer was trying to get out of the car.

"Man, what the hell are you doing? I told you not to move." He said, at the same time helping his friend to pass his leg above the gear shift.

"I know, but my back hurts. My legs are so stiff that I think they are going to fall off. I have been sitting there for hours! I don't want to get economy class syndrome. It is d-directly related to long periods of immobility during which blood pools in the legs, raising the risk of..."

"Reid!"

"Sorry."

When Spencer finally managed to get out, he was panting because of the effort. Morgan put the remaining blanket on top of a rock to make his friend sit down there and gave him his bottle of water. He even considered giving him food, because he was hungry himself, but didn't want to risk any more problems, so he just let him be for a while. After all, he had learned something from his afternoons watching 'Man Vs Wild'. A man could live three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food.

Reid could see how his friend was looking persistently toward the road, surely hoping that someone would pass, even if the last car they saw that day was hours ago, fifty miles away and going in the opposite direction. He also could see how Morgan moved away from the car and tried to call 911 again at least twice, with no success whatsoever.

Thinking about the dangerous situation would keep Spencer's mind busy for a while, far away from his own, most feared, personal monsters… Those he stupidly thought would disappear when he discovered that the murder of little Riley Jenkins was not only a nightmare he had, as well as the identity of his killer. Those monsters which were now more alive than ever...

Derek started to gather small branches, and dry grass to make a fire, in the hope that someone would see the smoke from the distance and also because he wanted to be ready for the night. It was almost 4 pm. They still had between two and three hours of light, but he didn't want to risk anything else. Shadows were already getting longer.

"I should've called Hotch by now, to let him know we arrived." Spencer said. "He'll notice that there's s-something wrong. Even if now he doesn't, later he may try to call us, to know the result of the interview. He'll realize we are not answering our phones and send someone to look for us."

"Unfortunately, we don't know for sure if that will happen, kid. It could be a long time before they find out we're not coming back. They may think we stopped somewhere for the night. So, option one is to wait, but we may have to spend days in this place. I would not like you to do that with your injury and with the amount of water we have."

"What is option two?"

"Me, going back to Bagdad to get help."

Spencer could not help but feel his heart skipping a beat. He felt a twinge of pain coming from his shoulder and he looked away, trying not to show it. He knew the beauty, but also the dangers of this desert. Maybe it was because he was incapacitated, but the idea of parting sounded crazy for him at the moment. To spend the pitch black night alone in the middle of nowhere wasn't appealing either, even if he knew dusk was the best time to travel in that environment.

"Every survival manual that I h-have read indicates that the best thing to do is not to split up." He said. "It is better to remain close to the vehicle in the case of an accident, because a rescue party would find something as big as a car faster than something as small as a person."

"You are absolutely right, but in this case, there's a road. I won't be more lost than I already am. There are only twenty five miles from here to the town."

"Twenty eight, actually."

"Ok, twenty eight. I can walk about four miles in one hour, easily. It would take me seven, eight hours to get there and another hour coming back, in a car. Maybe less if I get to call 911 or find someone on the way. A rescue party could take way longer than that, if it ever comes. This is a godforsaken place."

Spencer stood up and took a few steps toward his friend, now looking at him in the eye.

"Morgan, there are many other things you have to think about. The weather, the terrain, the wildlife..."

"Then tell me."

"It's not as easy as it seems. The desert comes alive at night. You shouldn't do it alone. Last year, 183 illegal immigrants died in this place because they underestimated it."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"I want to go with you."

"What? Surely you're not serious, man. Not with that injury."

"My collarbone is broken. The rest of me is fine."

"Are you one hundred percent sure of that? Listen, Reid… I know you are in pain. I know you are scared..."

"Is not that!"

"...but that is the best option I can see. I will leave after starting the fire and I promise, I will be back before dawn."

Morgan took two steps back and his friend took a few more toward him. Spencer's face was suddenly pale, with the corners of his mouth turned downwards and a shadow of fear in his glassy eyes.

"Derek..."

The dark skinned man found odd the fact that his colleague used his first name. He was going to say something else, he even opened his mouth, but then… he heard a noise right next to him. In the beginning, he didn't know what it was. It was a deafening, continuous rattling that echoed all around him. It was a sound everyone would have heard in movies, one that in real life was completely different and petrifying.

Morgan opened his eyes impossibly wide, staring at his friend. For a few instants, he was paralyzed.

Spencer held his breath looking down at something at Derek's feet. Then, in just one second, he ran toward his friend and pushed him away with his left arm, with surprising strength and precision. The older man stumbled backwards on the ground, utterly astounded.

With his heart jumping in his chest, Morgan could finally see it.

It was a snake.

It was almost five feet long and had the same golden color of the sand, with a dark brown geometrical pattern on its back. The tail had black and white bands and a large light brown rattle.

The noise stopped when the snake buried its fangs in Spencer's left leg, through the fabric of his pants, right above his foot. He just exhaled a muffled gasp.

"FUCK!"

In a flash, Morgan got his gun from its holster and shot the reptile, twice. Reid was startled each time.

The snake fell dead to the ground in front of Spencer. Both men kept looking at it… and for a few moments it was like nothing had happened.

Derek stood up as fast as he could, to run to his colleague, who was still standing there, just looking at the dead reptile.

"Don't touch it, Morgan." Spencer said with unsteady voice. "Snakes retain their bite r-reflex and can still be venomous for up to an hour after death."

"Oh, Reid… what did you do?"

"It's question of statistics, really." He swallowed and took a couple of steps backwards. "I was already c-crumpled, which meant my probabilities of getting out of this place alive were low anyway. You have 99.5 percent probability to get out unscathed. If I let the s-snake bite you, both of us would have less than 5 percent chance of survival. There's no sense in having t-two people injured. At least… one of us would make it out. What I didn't… I didn't think is..."

Spencer's legs gave in under his weight. He fell on his knees, engulfed by a wave of dizziness and pain.

 _"_ _Reid!"_

"...it hurts like hell… and I just realized… I don't want to die..."

In that moment, Derek finally saw the sheer terror in his friend's eyes.

"I know nothing about snakes, kid. Tell me what I have to do. Help me to help you."

" _Crotalus Atrox,_ Western Diamondback Rattlesnake." Reid said, his sight was fixed again in the dead animal. The tail was still moving a little. "Their venom is hemotoxic, destroying tissue, causing necrosis and disrupted blood clotting… I may lose my leg… I could bleed to d… "

"No! No, Spencer, Don't say that. Try to concentrate. If you tell me what to do, both of us will be fine, we'll be home sooner than you think. Come on." He said, putting his hand on his friend's left shoulder. "I need to know what to do."

Spencer closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply, to calm down and search for the information in his troubled mind.

"Keep… keep the person calm." He said. "Reassure them that bites can be effectively treated in an emergency room. Restrict movement, and keep the affected area below heart level to reduce the flow of v-venom. Remove any rings or constricting items, because the affected area may swell. Create a loose splint to help restrict movement of the area. If the area of the bite begins to swell and change color, the snake was probably venomous. Clean the wound, but don't flush it with water. Cover it with a clean, dry dressing. Monitor the person's vital signs, temperature… temperature, pulse, rate of breathing and blood pressure if possible. If there are s-signs of shock, such as paleness, lay the person flat, raise the feet about a foot and cover the person with a blanket. Get medical help right away."

Derek noticed how Spencer was speaking in third person, as a sort of denial of what was happening to him.

 _(This is going to be funny considering my first aid kit has aspirins, antiseptic and a couple of band aids… and medical help is at least twenty eight miles away...)_ He thought, with a sigh.

"There… there are some things that you shouldn't do..." Reid continued. "Don't allow the person to become over-exerted. If necessary, carry the person to safety. Don't apply a tour… a tourniquet. Don't apply cold compresses to a snake bite. Don't cut into a snake bite with a knife or razor. Don't try to suck out the venom by mouth..."

"I wasn't planning to do that..."

"I'm glad… Don't give the person stimulants or pain medication unless a d-doctor tells you to do so. Don't give the person anything by mouth… Don't raise the site of the bite above the level of the person's heart."

"Ok, kid. For starters, let's go back to the car, so you can sit there."

Spencer made his best effort to try to get on his feet, but his body just didn't respond.

"Don't do that. I will help you." Derek said. "You'll be all right."

Reid looked like a newborn foal, carrying an invisible, terrible load. Morgan offered his hand to him, which he accepted with a small grateful smile. He helped him to get up and held him by the waist, to walk back to the SUV. He ended carrying most of Spencer's weight, which was surprisingly and _worryingly_ light, considering his height. The scene was sad and terrifying.

Morgan needed him to be as calm and comfortable as possible and he made him settle in the back seat of the battered car. The short trip seemed to have exhausted him. He looked very afraid and lost.

As quick and carefully as he could, Derek removed Spencer's shoes and socks. Right now, his feet looked normal. He used his knife again, this time to cut the fabric off the left leg of Reid's pants, all the way to the knee.

He could see the awful marks of the snake fangs on Spencer's skin, bleeding profusely, in the centre of an irregular spot that looked reddened and sore. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to verbalize his fear for his friend to know that it was quite severe. After all, they were both profilers.

"It looks bad, doesn't it?" Spencer asked, shuddering. Derek could see that the adrenaline rush was already wearing off, at the same time the pain was settling in.

"It doesn't look great, but that is to be expected."

Reid nodded.

"Morgan… there are going to be… symptoms… Pain, dizziness, breathing difficulty, blurred vision, weak or rapid pulse, nausea, vomiting, numbness, changes in the skin color, swelling, tingling, weakness… I-I think I already have some of them… I could… I could have paralysis… or tissue damage…"

Derek groaned with frustration. When his gaze met Spencer's, he found tears in the corners of his eyes.

"How are you feeling _right now?"_ He asked.

"The pain is acute. I feel dizzy and tired… My heart is beating too fast. I'm… I'm scared…"

The older agent could see that his friend's features had hues of gray, with dark purple circles under his sunken eyes. The bones on his face appeared cruelly highlighted… like those of a person in agony.

 _(Stop thinking like that, Derek Morgan… Reid is strong… He will get through this… He has to get through this...)_

"I understand, kid, but you have to be positive. You've got out of worse situations before. You will get out of this one as well. I'm here to help you."

Derek used some antiseptic from the first aid kit to clean around the wound thoroughly and covered it with a dressing. Then, he decided to take away Reid's watch. He knew in cases like this, time could be a decisive factor and he didn't want Spencer to stress about it, above all else. He didn't have anything to examine his friend's vital signs, so he used his hand to check his pulse and temperature. The young man seemed to be quite cool at the moment.

"All right. Now I have to go out and see if I can find something to make a splint for you. For the moment, your job is to try to keep your foot down and stay as calm and steady as possible. Ok?"

Spencer nodded again gratefully and tried to breathe deeply, to lower his heart rate. He knew a faster heartbeat would bring the venom to his heart quicker.

"Morgan, be careful when you pick up pieces of wood from the ground. There could be scorpions or black widows hidden underneath them. They're even more venomous than rattlesnakes. Giant centipedes are also dangerous."

"No problem. Thanks for the advice."

Derek got out, leaving the door ajar. He saw the blanket and went to pick it up to use it later, shaking it to get rid of the sand and any bugs that may have found shelter in it.

Then, he closed his eyes, trying to fight the sudden lump that appeared in his throat. Unexpectedly, the possibility of his best friend dying was very real.

The worst part was that he felt that if something bad happened to Spencer, it was all his fault. If he hadn't been teasing him earlier, he would have been paying complete attention to the road and the accident would never had happened… if he hadn't been arguing with him, he would have seen the rattler and stopped it from biting either of them…

Ironically, Morgan thought that the snake really proved Reid's point: The desert was dangerous, even deadly… and he underestimated it. If it wasn't for his friend, now he would be the one facing the pain, the fear and the possibility of death.

 _(You were right, kid… and I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry...)_

* * *

Morgan had been working tirelessly for the past half hour.

He ended making the splint for Spencer with a couple of branches, his friend's tie and shoelaces. It was not pretty, but at least, it served its purpose of keeping the young man's leg fixed in the adequate position without being too tight.

He had been checking his friend's wound regularly. Before, Reid said that there was a chance for the bite to be 'dry', meaning no venom was injected, because rattlesnakes can control the amount of toxin they inoculate. Besides, they don't use all of their venom if the animal they're attacking is too big to eat. However, Morgan found out that the discolored area around the fang marks had grown and the leg started to swell. Obviously there was venom in Spencer's flesh… but there was no way of knowing if it was a little, or a lot.

Reid had been silent for a long while. He only spoke some time ago to say that now, on top of everything, he had a tingling sensation in his foot, which became 'heavy like a log', he was nauseous and his headache had grown stronger.

Derek felt that somehow all he was doing was useless. He needed to do something else to help his colleague, before it was too late. Even if it was too late.

He continued with his plan to create a fire big enough for the smoke to be seen from the distance in the few remaining hours of light and the flames to be easy to spot after sunset. In order to light it, he chose a rocky place that would not put the car or its surroundings at risk. He needed it to stay burning for a long time, even unattended, so he added some green twigs to the branches and grass he gathered earlier.

Soon enough, red flames and gray smoke rose into the blue sky, like a beacon of hope.

With that sorted, he went quickly to the back of the SUV, to refill the water bottles. He knew that the small amount of water was not ideal for what he was planning, but there was nothing else he could do. He put one of the bottles in the backpack along with a couple of energy bars and the flashlight. He placed it upon his back and carried the other bottle in his hand, thinking that the next step was going to be the hardest. What he was about to do, was going to hurt his friend in the same way it was already hurting him.

He found Spencer curled in one corner of the back seat, with his eyes closed. There was a fly buzzing around his face, but he didn't seem to notice, or care about it. Derek chased it away with his hand, thinking his friend was probably asleep; his breathing was a little faster than it should have been and he had tiny beads of sweat on his forehead. Morgan put the bottle within his reach and checked his temperature, touching his neck with the back of his fingers. He found out that his pulse was racing. His friend's condition was worsening. He had to hurry.

"Reid?"

"Mmmhh…"

Spencer opened his eyes. They were tired and unfocused.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." He answered. His voice was weak and raspy. Then, he saw the backpack that his friend had and he knew what Derek was about to do. He could not help but feel a heaviness in the pit of his stomach, because reason and emotion were two completely different things… and most of the time, they were opposite. "You're going to look for help…"

"Yes. You cannot stay like that much longer. Something has to be done. This is the only solution I can see. The sooner we find someone, the better."

"I agree…" Reid said.

"I will… have to take the flashlight with me. That means you'll be in the dark for a while. I'm really sorry about that, kid."

"That is n-not a problem." Reid whispered, lowering his sight. The corners of his mouth twisted in a sad and tired smile, which only served to manifest his sorrow even more. "They say absolute darkness is the best way to appreciate the night sky… It is a magic d-display you cannot see in the city because of all the lights around… Who knows? Maybe I'll get to s-see a shooting star…"

"Yeah… maybe." Derek's smile was as fake as the one of his young friend. "If you do, you have to make a really good wish…"

Spencer exhaled a wry chuckle.

"I know what it would be…" He said.

A deep and heavy silence, like the brief pause between the detonation of a bomb and the actual explosion, lingered between them. Reid stared at his friend and there was uncertainty in his eyes.

"Morgan, you have to be really careful. Sun exposure in the desert is dangerous, even for a short time. You need to find something to protect your s-skin and keep away your face from the dust. You have to seek shade if you c-can… Try to stay on the road for as long as possible, but if you d-don't, be sure you always know where… it is…"

Spencer started to cough. Each jerk brought a wave of pain with it and Derek held him the best he could, to try and keep him stable.

"Please don't strain. Don't worry. I will take care of myself and be back as soon as I can. I promise. You just hold on."

Reid swallowed, then hid his face in his colleague's chest, in order to keep his discomfort unseen.

"Listen." He continued. "This… this is important. If you stop to rest, don't lie flat on the ground. Stay alert. Don't remove your shoes, or you won't be able to wear them later, b-because your feet may… may swell… After dark you must… you must… AAAHHH!"

"Holy shit, Reid! What's wrong?"

"It's n-nothing…" He whispered, as he started to gasp in an alarming way. "Just… just a little ache… it will pass… it will pass."

But that didn't happen. Instead, the agony became stronger than ever. Spencer clenched his teeth, groaned and lifted his head, grimacing. His left hand unwittingly reached Morgan's arm and he squeezed it so hard that his friend knew he was going to have a bruise.

"Derek… it h-hurts so much… I'm… _I'm t-terrified…_ " He said. His face was the vivid picture of hopelessness and affliction. His friend could see the dread in his eyes and hear it in his voice. "I tried but… I can't… I can't take it anymore… I know I'm going to die… I don't want to die alone… Please… Don't let me… die alone…"

Suddenly, the heavy pressure on Morgan's arm ceased. At the same time, Spencer collapsed. Derek could feel clearly how his friend lost consciousness… it was like water slipping through his fingers… and he couldn't do anything to avoid it.

"No, no, no… Don't do this to me, Reid… Don't do this to me..."

Swiftly, Morgan placed Spencer's limp body into the recovery position, taking extreme care of his leg and his shoulder. Then, he checked for the pulse, touching the side of his neck. He exhaled a relieved sigh when he found out that his heart was beating and he was breathing.

His best friend was alive… for now.

He tried to wake him up by tapping his face gently and calling his name, but Reid didn't respond.

Derek found himself in a turmoil of mixed feelings, as he evaluated their chances. Leaving his colleague behind in his current situation, was definitely out of the question. If he wanted to go, he would have to take Spencer with him, but to transport an injured person by oneself was not an easy task, much less at nightfall. It would slow him down too much, exposing Reid to the elements, maybe aggravating the damage caused by the seat belt and the snakebite, putting both of them at risk in case of an animal attack, or any other potentially dangerous situation. It didn't seem worthy to do it now… and he wondered if it ever was.

Thinking about that, the man did what he should have done from the very start.

"You will not die alone, my dear friend… my little brother." He said, brushing away a lock of hair from Spencer's forehead. "No matter what happens… We are in this together, until the end."

Deep in his mind, Derek Morgan thought that the only hope they had, was a miracle.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED.


	2. Part 2

**_IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you read the first part of this work before January 6th 2016, please, read it again._** _It has been revised and extended. You'll find some substantial changes to it._

 _Happy New Year! Thanks to everyone who has followed, reviewed or marked this story as a favorite, you encourage me and make me really happy._ _ **Your advice is invaluable and I learn a lot from it.**_

 **PART 2.**

The rock Derek had in his hand fell again on the head of the screwdriver, with a big noise.

"I. Swear. We. Will. Get. Out. Of. This!"

With every word, there was a new hit on the head of the screwdriver. Morgan had been using it as a chisel to cut a long branch from the base of a dry tree. After the last, furious blow, the hard wood finally gave in. The branch fell to the ground, next to some other ones he'd cut before.

 _(At last...)_

Panting, he cleaned the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He could feel the sunburn on his face, on his head and on his arms, despite having been out there only for a short while. He got up and stretched himself, feeling the tension in his muscles as he did so. Then, he drank some water, holding back his desire of downing it all at once. He was really worn out, but there would be time to rest later. He shivered and looked at the sky, which was already turning into hues of orange and red above his head. The temperature was starting to drop. The night was close at hand.

 _(Shit. Where did the damned afternoon go?_ _I need to do this faster, seriously.)_

Sighing impatiently, he went to put some more twigs in the fire, to keep it burning. He wanted to hope that somehow, someone was going to see it and finally come to their rescue, but at the same time, he felt he had been trusting his good luck for too long. Hotch should be looking for them by now, but there was no sign of help yet… and probably there would never be.

However, the fire also helped to keep the wildlife away and it was another welcome distraction from the dark thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him, from the very moment he saw his friend pass out.

He had been thinking that to stay where they were, would be basically a death sentence for Reid. They needed to move, even if it was only for his own peace of mind. Even if it was hopeless. He would not be just sitting there, doing nothing, watching how his friend was getting closer to death with every passing minute. Never.

He had figured out a way of moving Reid. He could carry him on his back, certainly, but that would be dangerous and exhausting for both of them, so, he devised a makeshift stretcher. For that purpose he would use the remaining blanket, the seat belt straps and the branches he just got.

At the same time he had been working on that, he kept checking his friend's condition often. Every time he did so, the sense of urgency grew bigger. He had to apply new dressings to the wound on top of the first one, in two occasions, because they were getting blood-drenched.

Spencer had been oblivious for ages. That in itself was a huge cause of concern. Slowly but surely, with every passing moment, the temperature of his body was increasing. The only thing Morgan could think about what to do, was to try to reduce his friend's fever by placing a cloth dampened with cold water on his forehead. For that, he tore the sleeves of his own shirt and used the water left in the bottom of the broken jerry can.

Derek started to think that maybe it was better for Spencer to remain unconscious, at least for a while. It was odd to see him completely lost and overtaken by his panic and his pain. He always had been logical, calm and quick-thinking, even in the worst situations of his life… seeing him reduced to a whimpering child was painful. He knew Reid's best weapons were his intelligence, his eloquence and reasoning ability… Those had saved his life many times in the past… but there was no reasoning with nature. A rattlesnake wasn't an enemy you could subdue with words.

With a sigh, the man looked at the car… and wondered… Maybe Spencer knew something he didn't. Maybe he could already see that there was no hope.

 _(No, Derek… no. Don't do this. As if not bringing that damned sat phone, crashing the car and letting your best friend to be bitten by a snake in the middle of nowhere was not enough… Stop.)_

He hit himself on the leg with his fist, as a punishment.

He decided to go back to the SUV, to check on his friend again and get the straps to put the stretcher together. It was almost time to use the flashlight, as well. He was thinking things could not get much more adverse than that.

He was wrong.

As soon as he saw Reid, Morgan realized things could always be much worse.

Spencer was breathing hard, sweating copiously, shivering and moaning softly. His cheeks were red and now the wound was more swollen. For a moment, Derek didn't know what to do. This was more terrifying than almost any ' _unsub'_ he had faced in the past.

Quickly, he poured some more water on the cloth he had been using to cool down his friend's forehead and started to wipe his face, head and neck carefully. As he did so, unconsciously, he started to recite the Lord's Prayer, in silence.

"Spencer, you have to be strong, do you hear me? We will get out of this hell, one way or another. I swear…"

Reid's eyes fluttered open.

Somehow, that didn't make Morgan feel relieved.

"It is… too dark… I c-can't see you…" He whispered, trying to sit up. However, the pain in his shoulder stopped him and he fell in the same position again, wheezing, with clear distress shown on his face. "…Dad?"

Derek raised his eyebrows, as he realized that his friend's mind was in a place far, far away and he was staring at a different person.

He switched the torch on, in the hope that the light would make his colleague realize where he was. It didn't work.

"Hey kid. How do you feel?" He asked, trying to hide his worry with another pretended smile.

 _(Inside Spencer's mind, the image of his childhood bedroom was gloomy. The full moon was the only source of light, painting the shapes of the partially closed blinds on the blue colored wall. His books and scientific toys sat proudly on the shelves at the opposite side from the bed. A baseball bat, cap and glove were forgotten in one corner, hidden in the shadows. A tall man with dark hair and brown eyes, the man whom the child admired… and feared… the most, his father, was standing next to the door, with a resigned expression on his face, one hand on the knob and a suitcase in the other…)_

"Dad..." Reid's voice was soft and weary. A murmur, almost. "Please… please don't go… I'll be good… I promise… "

Every one of those simple words was a blow for Derek's heart. He knew both of them had grown up without a father… but his circumstances and Spencer's couldn't be more different. His dad died as a hero… his young friend, instead, was abandoned.

"Reid..."

"I'll do _whatever_ you want… just… just… Don't go… Don't go!" He exclaimed. Derek put some more fresh water on the cloth and replaced it on his burning brow. The hurt and the plea in those hazy brown eyes were almost unbearable. They angered him.

He was only starting to discover the torment hidden within his little brother's soul. A pain inflicted by one of the people that should've loved him most… his own father. An aching Spencer had kept buried, unsuspected for every person outside the walls he had built around himself through the years… walls that now were being torn down by a feverish delirium.

William Reid had left his only child alone, with his mentally ill mother, seventeen years ago. How the hell a man could be capable of such cruelty? Morgan could not explain. He thought that the only way he would leave a child of his own behind, was if he was dead. He simply didn't understand that someone could think otherwise. For him, that person simply didn't deserve to be called a father.

The worst part was that the wound was as fresh in Spencer's mind, as if it had happened yesterday… Hurting all the time, like an unremoved splinter. The encounter with his father in Las Vegas all those weeks ago, during the investigation for the murder of Riley Jenkins, only served to bring the monsters back to the surface.

Maybe William Reid did not commit the crime for which his son blamed him, but in reality, his sin was almost as bad as the one of Riley's real murderer, Gary Michaels. Spencer's rejection toward him was too small as a punishment, for all those years of abandonment, heartbreak, humiliations, suffering, absence and fear.

"Don't go… Don't go, please..."

"Kid… kid, you have to calm down. Ok? Everything is fine." Morgan whispered and his voice broke in the last word.

 _(Within Reid's dilution, the man left the suitcase on the floor and came silently into the room, looking around as if he wanted to record every single detail of it, maybe because he would never stand in this place again and he wanted to remember. There was a hint of disappointment on his face, when he saw the sport toys abandoned in the corner and that empty space on the shelf where that baseball trophy would never be. Even so, he approached the bed, sighing. He sat there, next to the boy, for the longest time…)_

"It's my f-fault..." Reid mumbled, his glassy eyes looking straight at Derek as if he was looking through his soul. His hand grabbed the one of his colleague with unexpected strength. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, dad..."

Morgan frowned.

"Sorry for what?"

"Because… because I'm not the son you w-wanted… I'm so sorry… Don't go… Don't go..."

 _(Of course, in his rational mind, Spencer knew the decision of leaving his family behind was all his father's. However, that knowledge didn't stop his emotional self to believe for many years that, somehow, he was the one to blame for William's abandonment, for not meeting his expectations… for not being a 'normal' child. That belief was what later prompted him to get PhDs as if they were sports trophies… to show the man that he could do it, he could live and reach his full potential, all by himself.)_

Derek shook his head, in a clear sign of frustration and desperation. Did Spencer really think it was his fault that his father left? How can a person be selfish enough to leave without an explanation and allow their child to believe that? He wanted, he needed to stop this torture, for his little brother's sake… and his own.

"It's not your fault, Spencer." He said, firmly. "It never was. Sometimes people do things that are hard to understand, even for a genius. You have always been a good son. You're not guilty of anything."

"I'm sorry… so sorry..."

Morgan exhaled a disgruntled sigh, at the same time he used the cloth with his free hand to keep trying to refresh his friend's temple. He thought this probably wasn't helping him at all, but at the moment there was nothing else he could do.

 _(In the dream, the boy could hear the stifled voice of his beloved mother, screaming nonsense from behind the closed door of the bedroom across the hallway… accusing the man who was still her husband, calling him weak and coward. He could see the grim expression on his father's face and it was appalling, especially for a child that could clearly understand everything that was happening, even at his young age.)_

'"Please… I'm scared… mom's sick… mom's very sick and s-she won't remember me… She'll say nasty things and attack me… she doesn't realize… Dad… I… I need you… Don't go… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry..."

Reid exhaled a quiet sob. At the same time, a tear ran down the side of his face and got lost in his hair. Morgan couldn't help remembering that night, almost a year ago, when his friend opened up to him and confessed about one horrible day, when his much older high school classmates stripped him of his clothes and tied him to a goal post, leaving him helpless and cold in the dark… and then, when he managed to free himself and came home, hours later, it was just to find out that his mother was having another episode.

Jesus Christ! The suffering, the fear had to be intolerable… and that kid was alone in the world to face it!

Derek felt a great and honest admiration for this man's strength and resilience. Of course, Spencer had shown these qualities in the past, but it was the first time Morgan acknowledged them as what they really were, the foundations of an exceptional soul… The soul of the one who endured everything, anything in order not to lose also his mother.

"Shhh… Don't worry anymore." Morgan said, soothingly, at the time he wiped the moisture from Spencer's face.

"Don't go… Don't go please… I'll be good… I won't be sick like mom… Don't want to be sick like mom… I… I am afraid to be sick like mom… I'm sorry… so sorry… just don't go… Don't..."

Of course Reid was delirious… but Derek wondered how much sense there was in his words. Could it be that his father ran away from the possibility of not only his wife having schizophrenia, but also his son? Was William Reid coward enough to do that, not caring to leave both of them, his family, in danger? If that was the case, Morgan thought… Not only he didn't deserve to be called a father… he didn't deserve to be called a man. If one day he had the chance to see that guy again…

"You won't be sick like your mom, Spencer… And even if you do, I'll always be there. I will always be your friend, no matter what happens. I will stay. I promise. Calm down… calm down… I will stay." Derek said, with tears stinging in his eyes, without actually thinking much about it. Right now his goal was to keep his friend calm, at all cost.

"Dad… I… _I love you..."_

Those words Reid said, were the last ones Morgan expected. They were surprising and heartbreaking. In spite of the years… in spite of the damage, deep inside, incredibly, he still cared for his father.

"Do you… do you love me?" Spencer asked then, his blurry eyes full of doubt, but also hope.

Derek knew that William Reid never allowed himself another chance to have a family and he treasured every single bit of information he had found about his son… everyone would say that 'it was his special and twisted way to love him', but for him, that was no love, at all. It was only regret. The agent thought it was ironic and in a way, ridiculous, that the man could still feel pride for Spencer's achievements… considering he never helped to build them. He even became an obstacle, putting in his son's shoulders a burden he should've never had to carry.

Anyway, this was not the moment for him to think about what his best friend's father did in the past. Right now, his priority was Spencer's wellbeing.

That was why Morgan decided to say it.

He was relieved because there was no one else listening and he hoped with all of his heart for Reid not to remember this later, if they survived. It was quite embarrassing, but he had to do it.

 _(Thank God Garcia is not here.)_

"Yes. I love you." He said.

The pressure of Reid's hand on his relaxed slightly. He closed his eyes, with a sigh and a hint of a weak smile on his face. His breathing started to calm down, at least for a while.

"Spencer… everything will be all right… you will be all right. You will be all right."

This time, there was no guilt in Derek's words. He was going to fight to keep his best friend alive. With more determination than ever, he grabbed his knife and quickly cut off all the seatbelts he could reach. Time was short. He still had a lot of things to do, before he could take him out of this hell.

* * *

It was already dark when Derek finally left the SUV with the straps of the seat belts in his hands. He stopped for a moment and turned off the flashlight, to look at the sky above.

There were more stars than he had ever seen in his life. The moon was not present tonight; instead, the imposing Milky Way was there, shinning in the center of a dark blue velvet blanket that seemed to have millions of scintillating gemstones embroidered in it. There were colors he didn't even know they existed. It was absolutely stunning and Morgan couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, Reid, man… You were right. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen... Looking at it would easily make you forget your fear of the dark, I'm sure…"

 _(I wish you could see it…)_

Morgan swallowed. Then, not wasting anymore time, he turned the torch back on and went to the place where he had the rest of the elements for his improvised stretcher. He was tired, however, he had to go on in order to try to get his colleague out of there. He could not just stop when a life was at stake.

He cut some of the straps in short pieces and kept two long ones, hoping for this to be enough. He suited the branches on the ground, the two long ones parallel at a short distance above the three shorter ones. He started to tie them together, the best way he could. The seat belts material was not great, but at least it was flexible enough to allow him to make knots with it.

Sometime later, he had a decent wooden frame that would allow him to carry his friend behind him. He was going to have to drag one of the ends, of course, but the stretcher was long enough for Reid not to touch the ground at any moment. Morgan placed the blanket folded on top of the frame and hoped for this to be not too uncomfortable for Spencer. He was also hoping for the trip not to be too long anyway, there _had to be_ phone signal somewhere.

He stood up admiring his work for a moment, then drank another small sip from his bottle.

"Right, kid. It's time to go, at last." He said out loud and sighed, stifling a yawn. Then, he went back to the SUV, to finally get his friend out.

Carefully, he carried Spencer placing one arm behind his back and the other one under his knees. He set him on the stretcher, trying with all of his might not to hurt his shoulder or leg to any further extent. He put yet another dressing on top of the others, to try to slow down the bleeding from the bite. The man was still feverish, but Derek covered him with a part of the blanket, because he didn't want him to get pneumonia, besides all. That would be the last straw. He used the longer straps that he reserved, to tie his friend to the wooden frame and keep him as stable as possible.

Once he did that, making sure that his friend was not going to fall from the fragile structure at the time they started their trip, Morgan placed the band of the lantern on his shoulder and across his chest, in the same fashion Reid used to carry his messenger bag. That way, the flashlight kept hanging on his left side, next to his hip, lighting the ground in front of him. Then, he put both bottles with the last of the water in the backpack and carried it once again.

He took a couple of deep breaths before he lifted Spencer's weight on the stretcher behind him. It wasn't that heavy, but Derek found it quite challenging. Even though his forehead was covered with sweat in seconds, he didn't give up and started to walk, slowly, first to get to the road and then, in the direction of the town. Having twenty eight miles ahead, he was praying to not have another close encounter with the _lovely_ wildlife, because this time it would be really difficult to reach his gun.

He couldn't stop the memories of his friendship with Spencer from coming to his mind… the funny moments… the sad… Every time they teased each other… every time they helped… every time they saved their lives, or the lives of others…

The weight was hurting his arms and shoulders. His steps were short and slower than he wanted, but Morgan promised himself, and Reid, that he was not going to give up.

 _(We are going to get out of this, kid… we have to get out of this… God, just let us out of this…)_

* * *

One man in a khaki colored uniform and another one dressed with black suit, white shirt and red tie were walking through a wide hallway in the direction of one of the lifts of Terminal 3, at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

The man with uniform had a clipboard. On it, the other could see a folded map that had the area at the north-west of Bagdad highlighted with red marker, along with photos of Morgan and Reid.

"Agent Hotchner, this is the area where we're going to start our search." The pilot and paramedic for Arizona Department of Public Safety claimed. "I have seen from the air that settlement you're talking about. It's quite isolated. There are only three buildings there. I think they don't even have electricity from the grid."

"Thank you, Captain Nicholls." Aaron said. His usual stoic expression was betrayed by the worry showed in his eyes. "I honestly appreciate the fact that you're doing this with such a short notice. Common sense tells me I should wait until the morning… but I have a feeling that there's something wrong. Two Federal Agents vanished in thin air and there has to be a very powerful reason for that. I would not like to risk their lives just because we took too long to start the search."

"There's nothing to worry about. It's our job." The pilot smiled.

They stopped in front of the lift and the man in uniform pressed the button to go up. The elevator didn't take long to arrive. Soon they were heading to the helipad.

"Excuse me, Sir…" Nicholls said, after a brief pause. "These men have to be really important, for you to come to personally supervise the search, especially at this time of the night."

"You're right, Captain. They're not only two elite members of the FBI and the BAU under my command. They're also my friends… family, if you want to see it that way. They're not answering their phones. Dr. Reid would never fail to call me when he said he would. I almost lost him once before, because It took me too long to come to the rescue. I will not make the same mistake again, even if in the end we find that they are all right and there's nothing to worry about. We need to locate them, as soon as possible. I wish I could help you to do that, but I know you and your crew can do that job better than anyone."

"We'll try our best, Agent Hotchner. I assure you. You'll have news from your agents as soon as we find something."

"Thanks again… and good luck." The Unit Chief said, with a grateful expression on his face, at the time he shook Nicholls' hand. At the same time, the door of the lift opened to the darkness outside. The wind caused by the spinning blades of the Bell 407 helicopter was very strong and the sound of its rotor was deafening.

Nicholls waved good bye and ran to the vehicle. Aaron saw him boarding and remained there, staring at the white and blue aircraft as it took off and disappeared into the black sky.

Hotchner knew the night was a big obstacle for their search, but he wanted to have faith in the rescuers' expertise. He was hoping for them to find his subordinates alive and well… and soon. It was frustrating for him just to think about having to tell their relatives they were dead, just as he had to do after they lost six agents in the Boston bombing, four years ago. It would break the team, the _family_ beyond repair and be a big setback for the whole Bureau. They simply couldn't afford that.

 _(Morgan, Reid… what happened? where the hell are you?)_

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** ** _:_** _Originally, this work was written in two parts, but when I decided to rewrite it, I got carried away a bit and the second part became too long. I decided to divide the story in three parts instead. However, by the time you're reading this, it will be already written and I promise, it will not take as long as the second one to be published. That will be the final part. Again, thank you for your interest. Hope to see you soon._


	3. Part 3

**PART 3.**

Derek had been walking determinedly, dragging his feet and his unconscious colleague on the improvised wooden frame for hours. He was so fatigued that he lost track of time and now he was starting to get cramps in his legs. He stopped feeling pain in his arms and back a long time ago. Now, they were just numb.

He was so focused on keep walking, that he didn't identify the faint noise of a rotor humming somewhere in the distance.

 _(We are going to get out of here. We have to get out of here. We are going to get out of here…)_

His mind kept repeating the same phrases, over and over, like a mantra that seemed endless.

His sight was fixed in the small patch of light created ahead of him by the torch he was carrying. Walking almost blindly, he didn't see a rock protruding from the soil right in front of him. He tripped over it and fell crashing on the ground, hurting badly his right shin, with a yell. The stretcher fell on top of him and almost rolled over, throwing Reid to the sand, next to him.

One of the two paramedics who made up the crew of the helicopter along with Nicholls, leant toward the window of the aircraft with eyes wide open, trying to see better into the blackness.

"Captain… I think I saw something, a small flash of light at 9 o'clock…" He said, into the microphone of his radio equipment.

The pilot tried to look in that direction, but couldn't see a thing. "Is it still there?"

The man blinked a couple of times, staring doubtfully at the same spot.

"No… not anymore, I think."

For a moment, Morgan couldn't even breathe. He was laying prone, with his face partially buried in the dust. His leg had a deep bleeding gash and his whole body was throbbing with ache.

 _(I need… to move…)_ He thought, even if he believed it was easier said than done. He used his last energy to turn and sit up. With a sigh, he grabbed his cell phone from his belt. His hands were trembling uncontrollably because of the effort of carrying his friend for a long time.

He found out that it was near midnight. They had been stranded in the desert for almost eight hours, but at the moment, that was what mattered less. He felt a lump in his throat when he saw the 'No service' sign, yet again.

With clumsy fingers, he dialed 911… just to find out that there was still no answer.

"Damn…" He whispered and tossed the phone on the sand. Then, he took the rucksack off his back and didn't even bother to try to drink water. He threw it next to the phone and allowed himself to fall on the ground, ready to die then and there.

At least, he would spend the last moments of his life staring at the beautiful sky.

 _(Spencer… You saved my life… and now I can't save yours… Forgive me.)_ He thought, completely shattered.

Then, he saw that white glare in the sky, close to the horizon.

In the beginning he thought it was just a shooting star  
 _(There you go, kid. Make your wish…),  
_ but when he finally registered the noise approaching with it, he understood there was still a chance to survive.

An adrenaline rush invaded his system and he sat up again, eyes wide open. He held his breath, remaining perfectly still, as if to make sure what he was seeing and hearing was genuine and not a trick of his fatigued mind.

Tears filled his eyes when he found out the vehicle flying a few miles away was real.

"Oh my God… Reid, there's a chopper!" He yelled, with excitement, his pain and tiredness forgotten for a moment. "A chopper! Hold on, pretty boy! You're not dying here, I swear! Hold on!"

He stood up with difficulty and raised his arms with the torch above his head, shaking them. With desperation and fear that the people in the helicopter would not see him, he started to jump, again and again, not caring about the overwhelming aching on his injured leg.

"HELP!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, in the middle of the dirt road, not realizing that it was impossible to hear him from that distance. "Help, please! HELP!"

The paramedic saw the flash for a second time. It was certainly dim, but it was there and shaking constantly; unmistakable sign of human activity.

"There it is again!" He almost shouted into his microphone. "There's someone down there, at nine o'clock! I'm sure!"

"Roger!" Nicholls said.

The helicopter turned softly to the west, in the direction of the sighting. Under the beam of the vehicle, the crew soon could see the shape of a muscly dark skinned man with shaven head standing in the middle of nowhere, shaking a flashlight desperately in his hand. When the reflector dazzled him, that man protected his eyes with his arm.

"That seems to be Agent Morgan." Nicholls said, with relief, but the sensation was short-lived when he saw the blood on his shin. "He's injured… Where's Agent Reid?"

The helicopter made another turn. Then, they could see the improvised stretcher and the unmoving young man, hanging partially from the side of the wooden frame.

"It seems that Agent Hotchner was right." Nicholls said. "We need to land. These guys got in big trouble…"

"Reid! They saw us!" Morgan screamed, limping as fast as he could to his friend's side and kneeling next to him. "They saw us… we will be out of this hell soon… Please hold on… hold on…"

The vehicle landed in a clearing some yards away, with a thunderous noise and a huge gust of wind, dust and twigs flying everywhere around them. Derek protected his colleague from the debris with his body.

Two men carrying a real stretcher, medical supplies and flashlights got out of the helicopter and came close to the distressed pair quickly.

"Agent Morgan, I am Captain Joshua Nicholls, with the Arizona DPS!" One of them said, above the noise of the rotor. "This is paramedic Adam Carter! Agent Hotchner sent us!"

"Thank God, thank God you're here!"

Derek sighed and stared at his injured colleague.

 _(My friend… you were right… again. You knew Hotch was going to find us… I should've had more faith in the team… I should've had more faith in you…)_

"You're bleeding!" Nicholls said, approaching Morgan, but he refused his help, with a gesture of his hands.

"Don't worry about me! I'm fine! Please help Reid!" He shouted. "There was an accident with the car! His right collarbone is broken! Then he was bitten by a rattlesnake on his left foot! A diamondback! He's been delirious! That was _ages_ ago!"

" _What?_ A fracture and then a snakebite? How did it happen?"

"He did it for _me_! He pushed me away! He jumped in front of the snake to stop it from biting _me_! He saved my life! You have to hurry! Please!"

Hardly believing the bizarre nature of Reid's injuries, Nicholls looked up at the younger man who was already being assessed by the other paramedic. He could see the area of the bite on his foot, very swollen and bruised around a red dressing that had been white once.

"Are you sure it was a diamondback?" He asked.

"Of course! Reid told me! He knows!"

"Ok!" Nicholls took two big pieces of sterile gauze from his orange plastic suitcase and placed them on top of Derek's injury. "Can you apply pressure on your wound for me, for a while?"

Morgan nodded.

"Do you know at what time the bite occurred, by any chance?" The pilot asked.

"Yes! It was shortly after 5 pm! I saw the time on his watch when I took it from him, just a few minutes after it happened!"

"Right. Thank you."

"Please… you have to save him."

"We will do everything we can, Agent Morgan. Now, try not to worry. I'll be back to you. Keep applying pressure to your wound. It won't be long."

Derek moved away from his friend, to allow the rescuers to treat him. Now, he only had to hope that his efforts to save him were enough, for Reid… and for himself.

In the next few moments, he could see how the captain said something to the paramedic and then Spencer was carried quickly onto the orange plastic stretcher and into the aircraft.

After that, Morgan started to find everything around him weird and confusing. He didn't know how he got into the helicopter, or if he fell asleep with exhaustion, or simply passed out, even before take-off.

* * *

Spencer had been floating in that gray nothingness for a long, long time. None of his nightmares seemed capable of reaching him there and he felt like he could happily stay in that place forever. It was quite comfortable and warm, far away from the memories, the fear and the pain.

He didn't know for how long he had been there, when all of a sudden, he felt something tugging persistently at his left leg. He didn't have the energy or the will to try and find out what it was, so he just hoped in silence for it to go away. It didn't. Instead, the nuisance was soon joined by an odd, artificial smell, which made his nostrils feel dry, cold and itchy.

In the beginning it was just annoying, but after a while the whole thing started to be really uncomfortable, even painful, impossible to ignore.

Gradually and inadvertently, he was dragged back to reality, where there also was the rhythmic beeping noise of a machine, somewhere by his left side. Through his heavily closed eyelids, he perceived a luminosity very different from the gloom where he was before.

At last, he decided to move away from whatever it was bothering him. That attempt brought a sudden spasm of pain to his right shoulder and he felt that his arm's movement was restricted. He squirmed slightly, this time bringing a much stronger aching to his left foot.

"Mmmhhh…"

"Reid?"

Spencer heard the somehow irregular steps of the owner of that very familiar voice, coming near him. He fought for a while to open his eyes, frowning a little. Then, he could feel a gentle and reassuring touch on his left wrist.

"Come on kid, wake up. I know you can."

After a moment that seemed to last forever, his eyes opened sluggishly, to find four cold white walls and one little warm smile from his best friend and colleague.

"M… Morgan?"

"Finally." Derek sighed contentedly and his smile grew wider. At least this time his friend did not mistake him for someone else. "I was getting tired of waiting, you know? Welcome back."

Reid blinked a few times and slowly turned his head around, confused by the unknown surroundings. There were machines and plastic tubes connected to him in almost every imaginable way.

"A hospital? W-why are we here? What…?"

"You're safe now and in one piece. We did it. We survived the desert."

"The… desert?" For a few seconds Spencer didn't seem to know what his friend was talking about, but suddenly everything fell back into place. His eyes opened wide, with recognition and a hint of concern. Now there was an explanation for all of his discomforts. He shuddered. "Now I remember…"

"Don´t worry about what happened. What matters now is that you're awake at last. It's time to let Dr. Fernandez know." The older man said, at the same time he found the nurse call button at the side of the bed and pressed it. "She's been taking care of you since we arrived. She's great, you'll see."

Derek took a couple of steps back and Spencer realized his friend had a slight limp. He was going to ask what happened to him, but he was silenced by the physician's arrival.

She was a short and thin woman in her early thirties, with cinnamon skin, long black hair combed in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. She was wearing blue scrubs, pink sport shoes, a badge and a stethoscope around the neck.

"Good morning, Agent Morgan. I see the reason for your call." She said, with a grin and a latin accent that reminded Spencer of Elle. "Dr. Reid, I'm glad you're awake. My name is Dr. Elena Fernandez and I'm in charge of your care."

Reid smiled shyly and waved, making noise when the IV line he had attached to the crook of his left arm knocked the side of the bed.

"How do you feel?" She asked, moving toward him.

"I'm… not sure… I have pain in my leg and my shoulder."

"I have to say, your situation was quite unusual and challenging." She said. "Not every day we get a patient who has had both a fracture and a snakebite. Pain is absolutely normal after what you've been through. We're using acetaminophen to ease it, but we can give you morphine, if you think it's too much."

"No! No… It is strong, but not as much as before. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" She frowned.

"Yes."

"Surely you have your reasons to not want morphine. We will respect that, as long as it doesn't affect your overall condition. For the moment, I will increase your dose of acetaminophen, however, if discomfort becomes too strong, or disturbs your recovery in any way, we will definitely use narcotics to stop it. Pain can be very harmful by itself."

Spencer nodded and sighed.

"Do you have any other symptom, like faintness, shortness of breath, nausea, or anything else out of the ordinary?" She asked.

"Not at the moment. Only the pain."

"All right." The physician said, at the same time starting to check all the patient's vitals on the machines around him and writing everything on a chart. "Dr. Reid, Agent Morgan told me what you did. I believe you're courageous, admirable… and a very lucky person."

"Lucky?" Morgan could not help but to exhale a chuckle behind her.

"Yes." She said, this time placing her hand on her patient's forearm, her dark eyes fixed on his. He found that touch warm and comforting and leaned softly into it. "As you surely know, the snake that bit you… can be deadly. At the very least, you could've developed compartment syndrome due to the hemotoxic nature of the venom, or have many other complications, which could lead to loss of the limb and other lifelong consequences. However, your envenomation was not as severe as we thought in the beginning. Rattlesnakes can control the quantity of venom they use. It also may vary depending on time of day, how hot it is outside, the type of prey they're feeding on and seasonally throughout the year. There are changes all the time. Perhaps this one didn't want to use it all in you, or it was used previously and the animal didn't have time to regenerate it… That is something we will never know. The fact is you had a grade 2 envenomation, which we categorize as moderate."

Reid looked down.

"M-moderate…? I thought I was going to die, I was so scared… I should've known better."

The woman sighed and dared to stroke the side of his face, making him look at her again.

"Spencer, I was told that you have a vast amount of knowledge… but there's a big difference between knowing something and experiencing it. A grade 2 envenomation isn't a walk in the park, so please don't reproach yourself."

Reid made a thin line with his lips, like he did every time he was nervous.

"It's not a crime to be scared, kid." Derek said and shivered. "I was paralyzed when I saw that damned snake. I still can't understand why or how you did what you did… It was the bravest thing I've ever seen. I'll never forget it… and I'll be grateful for that forever."

"I'm grateful for everything you have done for me, Morgan. You're my best friend."

Smiling, Derek raised his hand in the universal 'thumbs up' sign, which Reid responded weakly, but happily.

"Well, I'm truly glad we were able to help." Elena said. "Spencer, as I told you before, your case was… complicated, taking your other injuries into consideration. At the beginning, your symptoms were strange and unpredictable, showing things that shouldn't be there and covering up other important signs. Only an array of blood tests and close observation at the ICU told us the truth and allowed us to proceed. We had to act fast, due to the time elapsed between the bite and your admission to hospital, but we also had to be cautious. Animal medications such as vaccines and antivenins can cause allergies and in some cases, even anaphylaxis. There are always risks. It all depends on the patient's strength. Within two hours of your arrival, we administered an initial six vials dose of Polyvalent Crotalid Antivenin. I'm pleased to say the improvement at that moment was remarkable. In the next three days, six more vials were given in subsequent doses, to neutralize completely the toxins in your body."

"Three days…?" Reid said, surprised. "I… I don't have any recollection of that…"

"You spent most of the time unconscious. It's normal for many people not to recall their experiences at Intensive Care, so don't worry."

"But… the interview… the case… Morgan, what happened?"

"Man, you're the only person I know that will worry about his job in his hospital bed." Derek said, shaking his head. "I will tell you this so you don't have to think about it anymore. Prentiss and Rossi made the interview. The ' _unsub'_ is behind bars and the last victim was saved. We were all worried about you and waiting for you to wake up. In fact, the rest of the team should be here at any minute, except for Garcia and JJ, but they've been calling every day. I'm sure they will be very happy when we let them know you're better."

"I can't wait to go home and see them."

"I hate to say, but you'll have to wait at least until the weekend to leave the hospital." Elena said then. "We need you to be under observation, to rule out the recurrence of a coagulopathy, or any other complication. It's our policy for snakebite management, plus, there's still that collarbone fracture. Agent Morgan did an excellent job immobilizing it and you didn't require surgery, however, you also got bruising in your ribs and sternum. It will take a few weeks and physiotherapy for you to recover completely. In the meantime, you'll have to use the sling and I'm afraid you'll be confined to a wheelchair for some days."

"Oh…" Reid whispered, disheartened. If there was something he hated, was to feel useless. He was used to help, not to be helped.

"There's something else you have to know." The physician went on, with a serious expression on her face. "Because the venom is absorbed by the body's lymphatic system, it may continue to cause pain and swelling to the limb for some weeks. Of course, in that case, we can manage it with the same painkillers you're getting now. Also, some damage to your skin, at the bite site, was unavoidable. It will not affect the movement of your ankle, but you will be left with some scarring."

The young man held his breath for a few seconds, biting his lower lip.

"I'm alive." He said exhaling, finally.

Elena paused, this time looking at Derek and then again at Reid, like doubting what she was going to say.

"Spencer… the symptoms described by Agent Morgan during your time at the desert and those you showed in the ICU, were extremely erratic. Some of them seemed to have nothing to do with any of your injuries. As I had already said, that was what made our diagnosis difficult, in the first place. I know your line of work is one of the most stressful and dangerous around… I'm not a psychologist, but I can clearly see there's something bothering you. You should talk about it. The mind is a powerful thing and, sometimes, keeping things for ourselves can really damage our health. You don't even need a professional to listen. Most of the times, a good friend will do."

Reid looked away, trying not to show the surprise caused by the young doctor to be able to read him so easily.

"I have problems, like everyone else. I'm not bloody crazy." He said, dryly, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. "Dr. Fernandez, I'm sorry … I don't know where that came from…"

"Don't worry." She smiled sweetly. "I understand how frustrating it is to be in a situation like yours. Far away from home, injured and in pain. I can only say that it will not last forever. In less time than you imagine, you'll be fine and chasing bad guys again."

"Actually, Morgan is the 'door-kicking' one." Reid said with the tiniest of the smiles. "I do the mental job."

"I want to think he'll refrain of kicking doors for a while." She said, giving a meaningful look at Derek. "Now, it's time for me to leave. Your new prescription and a light meal will be here soon. I bet you're hungry."

He thought about it for a few seconds.

"Yes, yes… you're right. In fact, I'd love a cup of coffee with plenty of sugar."

Elena laughed.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to skip coffee for a few days, but you can have all the orange juice that you want. See you soon. Anything you need, just call."

"I will. Thank you."

With that, she left. Spencer sighed deeply and tried to sit up on the bed, but a sharp pain in his shoulder and his general weakness stopped him.

"Hey, kid, let me help you." Derek said and approached, to raise the top of the bed slightly and put some pillows behind his back. It was agonizing, but Reid didn't complain.

"Are you sure you're all right?" The older agent asked. Then, he poured some water in a plastic cup with a straw, and offered it to his colleague, who accepted gladly a few sips.

"Yes Morgan. It only hurts badly when I move. I feel good. Now, are you going to tell me why are you limping?"

Derek smiled.

"When we were back at the desert, I had a little accident. Fell on top of a rock and wounded my leg. It's just a small scratch."

"How many stitches?"

"Thirteen."

"I can't leave you alone for two seconds." Spencer affirmed, rolling his eyes at him. "That reminds me… how did we get here? Everything is a blur in my mind… Did I… did I faint?"

"You did a lot more than that." Derek said, pulling the plastic chair where he had been before, to place it closer to the bed, and sat there. "You had a nasty fever and a constant bleeding. Honestly, I thought you were not going to survive… I could not abandon you there like that, so I carried you for a few miles, but in the end, you were right. Hotch sent someone to rescue us."

"I knew he was going to find us." Spencer murmured, almost to himself, staring somewhere in front of him. This was yet another proof that he could trust Aaron Hotchner with his life.

"I'm sorry." Morgan said, sighing. "I was arrogant and stupid. Thinking I knew it all, I did everything wrong. I put you through a hell no one deserves. Please, forgive me."

"I told you before. _It was an accident._ It could happen to anyone." Reid said, this time staring straight into the eyes of his friend. "And what I did, I chose to do it all by myself. I would do it again if I had to. I know you'd do the same for me. So please, don't ever, ever blame yourself. I trust you as much as I trust Hotch, or anyone in the team."

Derek didn't say anything. He was just thankful because, even after all the mistakes he made, his colleague was alive and he still had his friendship.

He was thinking about that, when Spencer broke the silence in a way the older agent never expected.

"It was Sunday afternoon when my father abandoned us."

Derek frowned at the sudden change of subject, but didn't say a word. Reid was not the type of person that opened his feelings or his story to someone easily. This had to be really hard for him, another sign of his courage.

"I remember as if it happened yesterday…" Spencer whispered and started to fidget unconsciously with one of the straps of his sling, looking away. "Every single gesture… every word he said to my mother that day. They were sharp as knives. She cried for hours after he left. From the moment I saw that, I thought… I hoped never to see him again."

Reid lowered his face and ran his hand through his hair.

"To find him, standing there, looking at me after seventeen years as if nothing had happened... it just… messed up everything. I haven't been able to sleep properly ever since. It had been seventy four days… Seventy four days… And every night… every night I had the same nightmare… sometimes even twice. I dreamed of him standing by the door of my childhood bedroom, in silence. I could see the bitterness in his face… I could feel his disappointment… his disdain… his anger… that made me believe he left us because of me…"

"Reid…"

" _I know!_ I know it's wrong and… pathetic… but I can't help it. In my dream, every time, I asked… I _begged_ him to stay and I cried… Every time, he left. He slammed the door behind him, waking me up in tears… except for the last time."

Spencer stared at his friend again frowning faintly, like trying to force his brain to recall something.

"I don't know exactly when it happened." He said then. "I'm still confused about what we lived out in the desert, but there's something I do remember. At some stage, I had that nightmare again… Only this time it was different."

Derek cleared his throat. He knew that dream better than he would have ever wanted.

"It's frankly ridiculous." Reid continued, shaking his head a little and his voice trembled as he closed his eyes. "I… I _crave_ so much for the appreciation of this man, that I even dreamed about him saying that he was going to stay and that he _loved_ me… It's so puerile… but logical, considering I had a fever."

Spencer sobbed softly. He couldn't help but shed some tears.

Morgan remained silent, looking away for a few moments, trying to give some space to his friend. It was better to let him spit it all out now, to blow off steam, before it could hurt him even more.

"Thinking about it…" Reid said after a while, wiping his face furiously and accidentally knocking down the oxygen cannula from under his nose. "I can't recall a sole happy moment with my own father. The only thing I have, is a single 'daddy loves you' after a fight he had with my mother. I think Riley's dad did much more for me than him… And what did I do? Put him in jail for killing the man that was going to kill me when I was four…"

"Now I will be the one asking for you to not blame yourself, Spencer." Derek said, helping his friend to put back again the oxygen tube in place and looking into his eyes. "Lou Jenkins committed a crime… Gary Michaels was a beast and, personally, I can't blame Jenkins for what he did. However, we cannot take justice into our own hands. If that happened, the world would just become a battlefield. We would be killing each other in no time. What you did was right. I'm sure Jenkins understands it that way."

Reid nodded.

"I hope so." He said, sniffling and trying to keep his tears at bay. "You know, Morgan? Sometimes, things like that make me wish I could be as cold as many people believe I am. To not feel anything, but to reason it, like a robot. That's why I love science. Chemical elements will always react the same way when mixed with others… numbers will never fail you… Physical laws apply the same way in the whole universe… Emotions… emotions are difficult and painful. I wish I could hate my father."

Again, Derek didn't say a thing. He found difficult to believe his friend could hate anyone in the world.

"I should accept that it's just the way he is." Spencer continued. "Hating him for that, would be like hating my mother for having schizophrenia. I can't. I just don't know what to think, what to _feel_ about him."

The older agent sighed. Back in the desert, he had found out that this kid really loved his father, in spite of everything. If Spencer didn't want to say, or his conscious mind didn't want to admit it, Derek didn't have a clue, so, he decided not to mention anything about it. After all, it was Reid's right to keep his feelings for himself. That afternoon in the desert was a secret that only belonged to him… and Morgan swore he would take it to the grave.

"Have you talked to him after Las Vegas?" He asked, instead.

"I tried, many times. No more. Every time I called, either he was on a meeting, or out of the city in a business trip. I left messages and he never called back. It makes me sad that even now, when we had a chat and supposedly fixed things… he's still not talking to me. He said he didn't know how to be my father anymore. I guess it's true. For him, I will always be just a Google search. A folder with information saved into his hard drive. A curiosity."

There was so much bitterness, so much hurt in Spencer's voice… Derek opened his mouth wanting to say something… and then he closed it again, knowing that none of his words would ease the pain, the years of neglect, the loneliness in his friend's heart.

Fortunately, a knock on the door interrupted the uncomfortable moment. Reid breathed deeply, still trying to clean his face the best way he could. He looked at his friend intently, as if asking Morgan not to talk to anyone about their conversation. The older man nodded in understanding.

"Come in." Spencer said. The door opened somewhere at his right side, and before he could see who it was, he heard Emily's beautiful giggle, and Rossi's laugh. That warmed up his heart and made him forget a little about his physical and moral pain.

"Hey, Reid." The woman said, approaching with a wide smile. "Dr. Fernandez told us you woke up at last. I'm so glad… we were all very worried about you…"

She placed her hands softly at both sides of Spencer's head, and sweetly kissed his forehead, taking him by surprise. Usually, he didn't like physical contact, but this time, Emily's touch was like a warm blanket for a cold soul. He could not help but smile, honestly, for the first time in ages.

"This is from the girls of the team." She said, releasing him. Gently, she wiped the lipstick from his skin and an inadvertent tear from his cheek with her thumb. "I sent Garcia and JJ a text message to let them know you're better. They're so happy, I think they're already planning a welcome party."

"It will have to wait until after the weekend, though." Derek said then. "That's when Elena said he will be discharged."

"Elena?" Rossi inquired, raising one eyebrow at the same time he was staring at Morgan. "Some patients here are getting very friendly with the staff."

"Well. Morgan believes she is great… and I agree with him." Spencer said. "She's one of those to whom I owe my life."

"Oh no…" Emily intervened. "Don't tell me we lost Reid and Morgan after all."

Everyone around Spencer laughed. Seeing him alive and reasonably well, knowing he was going to be all right after they thought they were going to lose him, after those harrowing hours at the desert, after the seemingly endless days they spent at his bedside praying for him to get better, was such a relief…

"Speaking about life savers, where's Hotch?" The young man asked. "I'm so grateful with him and with all those who helped us to come back…"

The answer to his question came through the open door in that moment.

"Reid, what did I tell you about putting yourself in danger?" Aaron asked. His face had his famous unreadable expression. "You're turning this into a habit."

"I know, Hotch… I'm sorry." He said. "I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'll do my best to avoid it. I have come to the realization that I don't like hospitals, at all. Don't misunderstand me, I believe people in these places are fantastic. They're heroes. What I can't stand is the smell. After this, I will stay away from the hospital for a very, very long time."

"I hope so." Hotchner said, and his face showed the subtlest of the smiles. "You're an important part of this team. You have to take care of yourself."

"I will." Reid said, sighing.

Of course, at the time, he had no idea that less than one month after his total recovery from this incident, he'd find himself locked in a room with a corpse and a cloud of Anthrax, where he would see death closer than ever. Then, just four months after miraculously surviving that, he would push a victim out of the path of a bullet that he'd take in his left knee, one that would cost him three surgeries, more scars and the use of crutches and a cane for almost seven months.

Aaron approached and placed a bag with the logo of the hospital gift shop on the rolling table, next to the bed. Inside it, Spencer could see at least three books. He smirked.

"Make them last until the weekend." Hotch requested.

"That's another thing I can't promise." The young man said. His eyes roamed slowly over the smiling faces of each and every one of his present colleagues, and he pictured in his mind the images of those he had at home. He witnessed their affection, their relief and their sincere happiness, for him.

Thinking about this, Spencer realized that, somehow, after all, he _did_ have a family, apart from his mother… and a big one.

 _He was loved._ He was not, or would ever be, alone.

For now, in spite of the pain he still had, the young man felt safe and in peace.

The nightmare he had in the desert never haunted him again.

The damage that his father caused would always be there. His soul would always bear a scar deeper than the ones he carried now on his skin… Nevertheless, he understood that it was useless to waste his time blaming the man for something that could not be changed. It was better to realize that great expectations almost always take you to great disappointments and resentment was a poison that would only cause more pain. It was better to forgive, to accept, to _love_ him the way he was.

After all, William Reid had given him the most precious gift he could ever have… his own life.

For that, he would be thankful forever.

* * *

 _"_ _Real family does not come from your blood. It is the people standing beside you when no one else is."_

 _Author Unknown._

* * *

THE END.

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Thank you for following this story until the end. To write it has been a great learning experience, in more than one way._

 _The geographic, technical and medical facts, I got them from Google. If you find any inaccuracies, please let me know. Any critique is constructive and by doing that you're helping me to learn even more._

 _See you soon._


End file.
